Monday, August 30, 2004
Mind-melt
Mind-melt, IMO, is a state when one's plane of reference is questioned and starts to lose significance. It starts with a trickle of a thought that gains momentum and threatens to flood the (often irrational but) safeguarded corners of the mind. The threat of it wiping out long rooted convictions and beliefs is something that may need, paradoxically, conviction to accept the loss.
For instance, what if you were told that God (as you knew him) had human progeny and that some family tree traces back to Him ? Would that be a good thing, a not-so-good thing or a disaster ? On the one hand, it should be comforting and a source of strength for the believers to have one of Him amongst us. But on the other, would He lose out on our faith for having the human trait to procreate ?
A thought. But one that wont stop at being a trickle. What triggered it ? Read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". Meanwhile, I'm recovering..:-).
Mind-melt, IMO, is a state when one's plane of reference is questioned and starts to lose significance. It starts with a trickle of a thought that gains momentum and threatens to flood the (often irrational but) safeguarded corners of the mind. The threat of it wiping out long rooted convictions and beliefs is something that may need, paradoxically, conviction to accept the loss.
For instance, what if you were told that God (as you knew him) had human progeny and that some family tree traces back to Him ? Would that be a good thing, a not-so-good thing or a disaster ? On the one hand, it should be comforting and a source of strength for the believers to have one of Him amongst us. But on the other, would He lose out on our faith for having the human trait to procreate ?
A thought. But one that wont stop at being a trickle. What triggered it ? Read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". Meanwhile, I'm recovering..:-).
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
This is an extremely intense poem by William Blake. It recites well when read out aloud. There could be many interpretations to the sentiment expressed but to me what is really striking is the chord of fearful respect and the persistent rhetoric running through it. An all-time favourite of mine. Enjoy !
The Tiger
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
The Tiger
TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?
And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?
